Oil feed mechanism



G, J. MEYER ,899,973

OIL FEED MECHANISM 2 Sheets-Sheet l Filed Jan. 13, 1930 March 7, 1933. G. .1. MEYER 1,899,973

OIL FEED MECHANISM Filed Jan. 13, 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet 4 Patented Mar. 7, 1933 aan GEORGE J'. MEYER, 0F CUDAI-IY, WISCONSIN OIL FEED MECHANISM Application led January 13, 1930. Serial No. 420,364.

provide an improved oiling system in whichV 0 oil may be apportioned to the respective bearings and delivered in cycles of operations to a series of individual reservoirs capable of maintaining an adequate supply for an associated bearing during the period required for a completion of the cycle, under conditions favorable to inspection, the clearing of clogged ducts and the prompt elimination of any defect in operation.

Further objects are, to provide means whereby a pump may be employed to deliver definite charges of oil to an annular row of individual reservoirs, with which the pump outlet may be brought into registry by axial rotation of a reciprocating barrel or pump plunger; to provide means whereby the pump may be made to deliver excess charges, and the reservoirs permitted to over-flow and return excess oil to the source of supply, thus insuring the complete filling of each reservoir with a charge sufficient to supply the bearing throughout the period represented by the cycle; to provide means wherebyvmultiple charges may be delivered by the pump to a single reservoir in successive operations of a pump plunger without variation in the duration of the cycle or the speed. of the pump; and to provide means whereby the motion of the pump plunger may be transmitted to rotate the plunger step by step at intervals between oil delivering operations.

In general, the object is to provide a single oil distributing system which may be continuously operated mechanically, and which will be inexpensive, durable, and reliable for the stated purposes.

In the drawings:

Figure l is a plan view of an oiling system embodying the invention herein described.

Figure 2 is a sectional view, drawn generally to line 2 2 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a fragmentary elevational Viewr of the rotary distributor, the individual cups, and associated parts.

Figure 4 is a fragmentary isometricview illustrating the operation of the ratchet cams i and the manner in which they clear associated ratchet teeth. e Figure 5 is a diagram illustrative of the' action of the cams.

Figure 6 is a view of a modified structure G0 i showing parts corresponding generally with those shown in Figure 3, but taken at right angles to the view shown in Figure 3.

Figure 7 is a fragmentary plan View showing a modification.

Like parts are identified by the same reference characters throughout the several views.

As a source of oil supply for the system herein disclosed, a glass container 10, prefer ably in bottle form, may be employed. The

bottle is supported by a cage 11 in an inverted position, with its mouthpiece resting in a shallow cup 12, which has an outlet duct 13 leading to a suitable pump cylinder 14,

The'pump cylinder is preferably vertical- 75 ly disposed and provided with al tubularplunger 15, the lower end of which receives a screw threaded, ported valve seat plug 18, i provided with a check valve 19 at its upper end and having a guide stem 20 adapted to 8O be lifted bythe pressure of the oil duringL the down stroke of the plunger 15. During the down stroke of the pump plunger 15, a swinging check valve 21 in the passage 13 prevents the return of the oil that has been drawn into the pump cylinder 14 during the preceding suction stroke of the plunger, and aV quantity of oil equal to that displaced by the plunger on the down stroke will be delivered through the outlet, viz., the ported arm or spout 23 and the depending nozzle 24. The pump plunger 15 may be actuated,- reciprocated and rotatively adjusted,from any suitable source of power. In the construction shown, power to reciprocate the plunger may be assumed to be applied through a reciprocatory actuating rod 26 (Fig. 2) in swivelled connection with the upper end of the plunger at 27, whereby the plunger may be rotated as hereinafter eX- plained.

The cylinder 14 supports an annular overflow chamber 30, preferably formed by an integral radially and upwardly projecting liange and having its upper marginal portion outwardly turned to form an annular cup supporting. table 31. Upon this-table,.cupsv 32 are placed in an annular row, Concentric to the cylinder and at a radius corresponding with that of the nozzle, a completeto ythe bearingto be lubricated- The innerwall of each cup is preferably of less height than the outer w'all-v and the side walls are inclined from the outer wallto the inner wallg-wherebyany over-flow from the cups may-bedelivered-inwardly.

-The inner wall-of the cup' may also'be provided w-ith aspout 37 (Fig. 6)- tocarryV theoverflow across a iib-38-on-the-table- 31;, the rib being preferably segmental.. The. uppersurface of the-table. 31 may be slightly inw-ardly andi .downwardly inclined, whereby the cups may be-uniformly positioned against the rib segments and-the oilcarried thereover, not* onlyy by spouts-37, but also-whereby any oilreeeived'on-.the surface-of the-table eXeterior tofthe-may'find its-way. betweenthe rib-segments-y tjo the inner. side-of the rib. f

andginto the-collecting. chamber 30.-

i Thepuinp plunger 1-5 andthe-cups are relatively adjustedk stepiV by step rotatively.

`Where the cups are of normal size, eachstep movement should be sirflicie`iitV to.- biz-ing. the.y

nozzle-into-registry with the neX-tf cupin the. series whereby the succeeding. down stroke of. the plunger-v will' deliver a charge of. oil into that cup. Eachcupis-of a size adequate' toA supply the bearing. with which it isrv associated with oil duringy the time required` forthe pump plunger to-complete its cycle and.

deliver another charge of oil. t-o the sameY cup, and the pump capacity is sufficient to replenish the supply to a standard cup in a single pumping stroke.

Ifl a bearing requires more oil than can be supplied by a cup-of vst'andardsize, a double cup may be employedas indicated4 at 33 in Figure 1. This cup 33 is formed to' occupy afspace' equal to that occupied by two cups of normal size, whereby it may receive twocharges of oil from a pump having'a step by step movement equal' in length tothe dis; tance between centers of two abutting cups of standard size. A

If two-charges of oily should be nsuficent to maintain'the supply pending a return of the pump nozzle to any given cup, a cup of triple or of even greater size may be employed, although each larger sized cup should be a multiple of a standard size cup. This is done in order that the pump plunger may be reciproeated in pumping strokesof equal length. and speed, alternating: with'l rotative step movements of equal length, co-incident with the retractive strokes, and thus avoid complicating-'- the mechanism by providing for variations in the character or degree of movementV of the parts.

It is desirable that the retractive movements of the pump plunger may be transmitted and utilized to= impart. the rotative step by step movements@ Thisis preferably accomplishf-id-byv providing the-annular table 31 with* inner` andoutei' marginal ratchety teet-hl40 and 41.-, respectively adapted to be 'engaged successively by depending plunger rotating.- cam dogs 42 and 43;. lVhileany ordinary foi-,mxof ratchet feed mechanism or other device for converting reciprocatorymovement. into rotative step by step movements-might be employed,.I prefer to employ the cani-dogs illustrated, for Vthe reason that they. may be ,formed integrally with the noz-` zle, .thereby simplifyingthe cost of construe-- tion;y reducing repair requirementsand the possibility of: failure in operation.

Tilieff'orm, arrangement and inode of operation of these cam-dogsand their associated ratchets will-now be described withfreference to t-hespecific. structure illustrated.

The-ratchet teeth may comprise mere pinsoii st-udlike projections in avhorizontal planea. One of. the-dogs, e.v g.t`he outer` dog43, lismade with an oi'set shank-.portion 44nearzthelower.l end oftheshanln of' suliicient lengt-h and! degree of osettoaHowthis portionfof theshank: to clearv the-endv of an. associatedtooth 41duiiingpart ofthe downward-.movement of the ump plunger,l at which time-the oblique; surface- 45l of the cam dog 42 will bear upon the: upper 'side ofan associated toothz40yand move-thenozzle rotatively in the direction indicated by the arrow-in. Figures 1f, 3 and 4.-.

Upon complet-ion'of:the;down:stroke of the plunger, both of the dogs will .have been moved .across-the radial line of the-teeth with which. they are immediatelyv associated, andthe cam surface 46'of. the d'ogf 43-lwill occupy a` position underneath thetooth 41 over theend=of1 which the offset'port-ionf44! of.- this dog has just passed.' Thereupon, an upwardmovement of: the pump plunger will carry the camsurface-46 against the under side of said tooth 41, and impart an additionaLrot-ative movement to the nozzle-and pump-plunger until the camsurf-ace 46:- passesl from beneath said-tooth. Y

During; this coinbined rotative and up- 'ward movement, the portion of the dog: 42

ist)

having the oblique cam surface 45 will have been lifted above the level of the teeth 40 and alsor carried by the rotation of the dog carrier or nozzle into a position for engagement with the next ratchet tooth 40 during the succeeding downward stroke of the plunger. The arrangement of the parts is such that the dog 42 will first be lifted wholly above the tooth 40 which it is to engage and then carried over it to a point where the lower end of the cam surface 45 will be in a position to engage such tooth while the plunger is moving on its downward stroke, thereby carrying the offset portion 44 of'cam dog 43 across the next tooth 40.

The cups will preferably be arranged upon the table in such a manner that the nozzle 24 will be carried across the dividing wall of` two directly associated cups during the nozzle moving operation of the cam dog 43. This movement occurs during the up stroke of the plunger, at which time no oil will be delivered. But the nozzle moving operation of the cam dog` 42 should take place during the downward movement of the pump plunger, at which time the nozzle outlet willl be close to the cup with which it is in registry, or, if desired, slightly within the cup, to avoid splashing. The nozzle is thus moved by the cam dog 42 across the central portion of the cup without coming into engagement with a side wall thereof, and if within the cup, the cam must be so disposed that the nozzle may be lifted out of the cup in time to clear the wall over which it passes when again actuated by the cam dog 43. "y `Inasmuch as the ratchet teeth and the cam dogs may be formed integrally with the parts from which they are supported, it is obvious that they may be formed of cast metal or that they may be cut, pressed or shaped from sheet metal. No manual operation for finishing or assembling will be required beyond fitting the valve seat and valve to the plunger, associating the plunger with the cylinder, placing the cups upon the table, and connecting them with the oil ducts 35.

By employing a glass bottle 10 as a main reservoir, the quantity of oil in the reservoir may be instantly determined upon inspection, and the supply renewed by substitution of bottles as frequently as may be necessary. Also, the delivery of oil into and from the cups may berobserved, and if any passage is obstructed so that a cup fails to receive oil or fails to allow it to normally flow through the outlet, this can be immediately detected during a single inspection of all the cups and the obstruction removed.

If desired, the table yand associated parts may be enclosed by a removable glass cap.

49 through which the operation of the system may 'be inspected. In this manner dust may be excluded from the system. Oil overflowing from the cups will collect in lthe chamber 30 and be returned to the supply cup 12 through a drain duct 50 (Fig. 2).

Within certain limits, a table 31 of a given diameter and with a given number of associated cups 32, may be employed for oiling systems having bearings, the number of which does not exceed the number of cups, except in cases where two or more bearings requiring little oil may be supplied from a single cup. In cases where the number of bearings is less than the number of cups required to supply them, the oil outlets of unused cups may be connected to the main supply cup 12, or plugged and the cups allowed to overflow into the chamber 30.

l3nt in systems where the bearings to be lubricated exceed the number of the oil cups carried by a table of a given diameter, a table of larger diameter may be substituted, and the number of cups correspondingly increased to any extent within the capacity ofthe pump to keep such cups supplied with oil. Larger systems will, of course, require pumps of increased capacity, tables of increased diameter and cups of correspondingly increased number. In such cases the speed of the pump may be increased to prevent undue extension of the time required to complete a given cycle or, if desired, the capacity of the cups and of the pump may be increased so that each cup will receive a larger charge of oil and thus maintain the supply during the longer period of the cycle.

As has already been indicated, the. modified structure illustrated in Figure 6 differs from that disclosed in Figure 1 principally by hav-v ing the cups removable, whereas, in Figure l they are formed integrally with the table.

Referring to Figure 7 a further modification is illustrated in which the table is provided with but one row of teeth. The nozzle 23aI carries a cam dog 43a substantially as disclosed in the other views and the ratchet teeth 41a correspond with the ratchet teeth 41 in the other views. But the pump plunger is provided with an asm 53 which projectsfrom the plunger on the opposite side from that occupied by the nozzle supporting arm 2302, and this arm 53 is provided with a cam dog 42a which acts upon the same ratchet teeth 41a with which the cam dog 43al engages. In this manner, a single row of ratchet teeth, associated with two alternately operating cam dogs, may be employed to advance the nozzle in a'rnanner similar to that in which it advances as disclosed with reference to the other views.

I claim:

1. An oil distributing mechanism including the combination of an annular table, an

with the respective cups successively, and

ble an overflow chamber concentric therewith,y

an annular'table having an inclined surface adapted to ydrain into said over-ilow chamber, any annular series of cups mounted on said table and each associated with an oil supply duct, and means for rotating the Ipump plunger and nozzle step by step to successively deliver oilto sai-d cups.

3. An oil distributing.mechanism comprisingv thecoinbination with an annulartable provided with a series of oil' cups, a pump having a nozzle'rotatable step by step to deliver oil into said cups successively, a supply cup connected with the inlet ofthe pump and having a reservoir, the outlet of which is normally sealed in oil delivered therefrom to the supply cup, and oil feed ducts, each connectedY with one of thecups and adapted to convey oilL therefrom to bearings to be'lubricated.

4. An oil distributing mechanism comprising the combination with an annular table provided with a series of oil cups, a pump having aV nozzle rotatable step by step to deliver oil into said cups successively, a supply cup connected with the inlet of the pump and having a reservoir, the outlet of which is normally sealed in oil delivered therefrom to the supply cup, and oil feed ducts, each connected with one of the cups and adapted to convey oil therefrom to bearings to be lubricated, said cupsV being of standardized dimensions and multiples thereof along the line of travel of the pump nozzle and each adaptedV tomaintain a supply of loil to an associated bearing during one cycle of no-zzle rotation.

5.- The combination 'with an oil reservoir having a gravity feed and a pump supply cup in sealing relation to the reservoir, a pump having its inlet connected with the supply cup and provided with a check valve positioned to prevent return of oil to the cup, a vertically reciprocating pump plunger provided with a valved outlet passage and having a laterally and downwardly projecting nozzle near its upper end with which said passage communicates, means for reciprocating said plunger, ratchet mechanism for utilizing the reciprocatory movements of the plunger to rotate it step by step, and a series of oilcups disposed for registry of the nozzle therewith successively after each movement of step rotation.

6.Tlie combination with an oil reservoir having a gravity feed and a pump supply cupv in sealing relation to the reservoir, a pump having its inletA connected' with the supply cup and. provided' with a check valve positioned to prevent return off oil'to the cup, af

vertically reciprocating pump plunger provided with a v alved outlet: passage and havingA a laterally and downwardly projecting nozzle near its` upper end with which said passage communicates, means for reciprocatings said plunger, ratchet mechanism forl utilizing the reciprocatory movements of the.

plunger to rotate it step'by step, and a series ofioil' cups disposed for registry of the nozzle therewith, successively, after each movement of step rotation, said' ratchet mechanism including a set of dogsin fixed relation t'o the plunger and: corresponding sets of ratchet teethr against'which said dogs may bear during reciprocation ofthe plunger to impart' step rotation to the latter, said dogs beingdisposed toact` upon the ratchet teeth successively at times when the companion dog is inl a position for engagement with the succeeding toothin its associated series.

7 ln an oil distributing system, the combinationof a cup supporting table provided with a seriesof removable cups disposed` side by side thereon and each having an oil conveying outlet duct and means for pumping oil into said cups successively in a cycle of pumping operations, said table having an associated overflow chamber, and saidI cups having overflow spouts disposed'for deliveryV into said chamber.

8. In anoil distributing system, the combination of a cup supporting table provided with a series'of removable cups disposed side by side on said duct and` each having an oil conveying outlet duct and means for pumping oill intoI said cups successively'in a cycle of pumping operations, said table having an associated overflow chamber, and said cups having overflow spouts disposed for delivery into said chamber, the table being inclined for drainage'intosaid chamber.

9. The combination with an oil reservoir and an oil distributing chamber, each having a transparent wall, an annular series of individual cups located in the oil distributing chamber and detachably connected, each with an oil conveying duct, a centrally disposed pump havingv a nozzle revoluble about the central axis of the pump, thev nozzle outlet being at the radial distance'of the cups from said axis and'adapted for registry successively with saidcups, means for actuating the pump forintermittent oil delivery and rotating itv step byv step in the interval be-` tweenV such deliveries topbring the nozzles into registry with successive cups.

l0. The combination withy an oil reservoir and an oil distributing chamber, each having a transparent wall, an annular series of individual cups located'in the oil distributing chamber and detachably connected, each with an oil conveying duct, a centrally disposed pump having a nozzle revoluble about the central axis of the pump, the nozzle outlet being at the radial distance of the cups from said axis and adapted for registry successively with said cups, means for actuating the pump for intermittent oil delivery and rotating it step by step in the interval between such deliveries to bring the nozzle into registry with successive cups, and an overflow chamber adapted to receive oil from overflowing cups and return it to the source of pump supply.

11. The combination with a plurality of serially disposed receiving vessels, of a delivery nozzle movable into successive stations in a. path to deliver :duid into various of said vessels, means for intermittently delivering fluid from said nozzle into a vessel, and a device actuated by said means for moving said nozzle to a successive station whereby to insure such movement consequent upon each delivery.

GEORGE J. MEYER. 

